


camp puppy love

by alohacowboy



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Campfire story or Halloween fic, Humor, Lifeguard Arthur Pendragon- a touch of hot country bumpkin with a dash of sunkissed beachbabe, M/M, Meet-Cute, Survivalist Merlin, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26994598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alohacowboy/pseuds/alohacowboy
Summary: in which arthur 'falls' for merlin
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know where this g-rated disaster came from since I have spent most of today thinking of writing totally non-g-rated stuff.

Arthur Pendragon fell for Merlin when– no, scratch that. Let’s not sugar-coat this.

One day, a guy that Arthur didn’t know fell _on_ him, and it was probably one of the most painful experiences of his life.

Falling for this guy was a long, excruciating journey– mostly because they were rolling down a steep, sandy hill that had old planks of wood cut into the decline as makeshift stairs, and Arthur was fairly sure he was going to break his neck on one of them as they toppled down in a tangle of limbs.

The landing was about as shitty as the fall, especially when a gangly guy dropped on top of him with a soft ooph.

'You idiot,' Arthur bellowed once he was able to breathe again. He would have scrambled to his feet, but he was fairly certain he’d broken a rib or something.

The guy on top of him– all big dark blue eyes and dark curling hair– blinked down, one cheek smeared with mud and blood.

'You shouldn’t yell.'

'I think you broke something!'

'Don’t be dramatic,' the stranger said matter-of-factly as he rolled off Arthur and onto his back with a low groan. 'I think I broke something.'

Arthur would have laughed if he hadn’t been busy sucking in his last dying breaths. 

'And whose fault would that have been?'

'I tripped.'

Arthur's knee was singing fiercely, and that was really the only reason why he remained lying there, staring up at the early morning sunlight dappling through the tall trees.

Arthur lifted his palms to eye-level and inspected the scrapes.

What a way to begin his first year as a counsellor. For the first time, Arthur looked like he’d been in a fight and it wasn’t actually the case.

A shuffle and hiss alerted Arthur to the person beside him sitting up– and not wanting to be outdone, Arthur did the same. As they both made their wobbly way to standing, Arthur finally got to really inspect his clumsy assailant.

Scarred, well-worn hiking boots that went mid-calf, coltish, knobby-kneed legs that were already bruising, khaki shorts and a blue t-shirt. Large ears that were kind of fascinating, chapped lips and a sharp nose– and more leaves and twigs than hair at this point.

Arthur couldn’t help but grin. The guy looked just about as worse for wear as Arthur was, so that was some comfort.

Without a second thought, Arthur reached forward and began to pick the foliage from the counsellor’s hair. Because this guy totally had Wholesome Camp Counsellor written all over him.

'I’m Merlin,' he said as he nearly went cross-eyed trying to look up at what Arthur was doing.

Arthur swiped his hands through Merlin's soft hair and sent sand flying in all directions. He laughed and dropped his hands to his sides. 'Arthur.'

Merlin smiled and looked preternatural with his bright eyes, pale skin and fey ears. It almost unnerved Arthur.

'Why didn’t I see you in the introductory counsellor weekend?'

Merlin's mouth twisted into a little scowl. 'My brother drove me, and he was late.'

'Two days late?'

'Gwaine is very good at being late, and no one will fire him.'

'Wait,' Arthur huffed a laugh and shook his head. 'Your brother works here too?'

Merlin nodded.

'Why won’t they fire him?'

Merlin shrugged faintly and wiped his sandy hands on his shirt. 'He always comes back.'

Arthur gave him an incredulous look. 'Just who is your brother?'

'Gwaine, the camp nurse.'

'Gwaine?!'

'He does enjoy the unnecessary use of peroxide on wounds.'

Arthur winced. In the distance, up the hill and into the woods, a bell tolled haunting and hollow. Both he and Merlin looked dubiously into the forest. 

Arthur sighed. 'I guess that’s breakfast begun. I was gonna take a swim beforehand.' Arthur looked down at his bloodied knees, then up at Merlin with a half-glare. 'Looks like I’m gonna have to visit Gwaine instead.'

'You don’t have to,' Merlin replied, his voice taking on a strangely breathless quality. 'I know first-aid. Come to my cabin and I’ll attend to your injuries. You’ll miss breakfast, but I have a bag of gummy bears in my room.'

Arthur peered quizzically down at Merlin for a moment before his face broke into a grin. 'You know food’s not allowed in our cabins, right?'

Merlin looked perfectly serious. 'Gummy bears are more important than rules.'

And that was how Arthur ended up sitting on some strange guy’s bed in the middle of the forest while said guy was on his knees before Arthur– patching up his legs, of course.

'Hey,' Arthur said with a scowl. 'Don’t put band-aids on my knees. I’m not ten.'

Merlin completely ignored Arthur's request and pressed a large, square band-aid to Arthur's knee.

Arthur's toes were all mucked up and scraped too, because unlike Merlin, Arthur had been wearing flip flops when he’d fallen. What kind of goof wore hiking boots in the middle of summer, anyway?

'What kind of goof wears hiking boots in the middle of summer, anyway?' Arthur said, because he’d never been very good at keeping his thoughts locked up.

Merlin stood and peered down at Arthur with a withering look that made him feel miniscule. 'Allow me to make a guess. You’re a lifeguard, not a full counsellor.'

Arthur frowned. 'How’d you know?”

Merlin gestured to Arthur's red board shorts, the camp t-shirt, his beaded anklet, and the whistle around his neck. 'It wasn’t difficult to figure out.'

'Are you saying I’m a stereotype?' Arthur asked with something that totally wasn’t a pout.

'I’m saying you’re easy to read.'

'I’m not. I’m mysterious.' Arthur lurched from the bed, checking his waterproof watch for the time.

Merlin was rummaging through a drawer. He looked up with what might’ve been a smile, but was gone before Arthur could tell. 

Arthur caught the flying bag of gummy worms with a short laugh. He ripped the crinkling plastic open and shoved a handful of candy into his mouth.

'At least you're good for something,' he said with chipmunk cheeks.

Soon after, they headed out of the room and into the morning air that was already growing sticky and thick.

Arthur nudged his bruised elbow against Merlin's skinny side. 'So are you a full counsellor or what?'

Merlin spared him a glance as they hiked up the dirt trail that connected the staff cabins and the dining hall. 'I lead nature hikes and give survival lessons.”

'Survival lessons?' Arthur asked with a laugh. 'I could break you in half, Merlin.'

Merlin paused as they approached the dining hall, which was clamouring with children. He gave Arthur another one of those frighteningly stony looks.

'You could try.'

Arthur gulped and mustered a cocky grin. 'On my own time. Anyway, you’re late. See ya around.'

Before Merlin could reply, Arthur was turning and holding up a hand in a vague wave as he wandered back to the beach. Despite the sour start to the morning, Arthur found himself smiling for the rest of the day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which lifeguard!arthur barely refrains from leaping into survivalist!merlin's arms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sLAPS giftbow on lifeguard!arthur's face* this T-RATED masterpiece is for the #sandbox bud

There wasn’t even a breeze as Arthur felt a trickle of sweat slick down his spine. He’d shucked his shirt hours ago and was chugging water like he was doing laps rather than sitting on a twenty foot high bench that overlooked Long Lake’s sliver of beach. The flash and spark of sunlight on lapping waves was blinding enough that Arthur opted for his oversized sunglasses as he gazed watchfully over the splashing group of eleven-year olds.

Gwen, a pretty counsellor who filled out a bikini nicely, was in the water with nine of her twelve campers. One girl sat on the wobbly pier’s edge, with her feet dipped in the water as she likely watched minnows and sunfish flicker around her toes. The remaining two kids were, well–

'Hi _Arthur_ ,' chimed twin voices that Arthur had come to know as Ranulf and Caroline. He had also come to know that what they had in common was a severe infatuation with Arthur that, over the week that he’d been here, had become the source of way too much teasing from Gwen.

Arthur looked over the side of his perch, tipped his glasses down his nose and grinned. 'Hey guys, how’s it hangin?'

The boy and girl looked like they were going to combust from the attention at any moment, so Arthur toned down the smile a notch. Couldn’t send some poor underage kids into heat stroke, now could he?

Caroline went into a long narrative about her morning and how she’d seen a baby deer– which actually did interest Arthur as much as Bambi could grasp his attention– but something in the water caught Arthur’s eye.

A flash of _something_ , ten feet past the pier and in the deepest swimming area allotted for campers. A slink of something inky and long beneath the waves, and then gone like an apparition. Something and then nothing.

Arthur repressed a shiver despite the sweltering heat that stuck to his skin like honey. Caroline and Ranulf were white noise in his ears as he narrowed his eyes on the girl still splashing at the edge of the dock. The water around her looked clear; with his sunglasses cutting through the errant sunlight, Arthur could see through the five feet of glassy, sepia lake.

'Are you gonna have dinner at our table again tonight?' Ranulf asked, jolting Arthur from his concentration.

'Huh? Oh uh, yeah, probably. If Gwen will have me.' Arthur pasted on a smile and wiggled his eyebrows. 'And I don’t see how she could deny me, right?'

The kids’ faces flushed bright as a sunburn as they squealed their agreements and scurried away with secretive laughter. Arthur usually would have gotten pleasure out of encouraging a silly summer crush that the campers could look back on fondly when they were older– but frankly, Arthur had kind of creeped himself out here.

What in this lake was actually that big– that swift and eerie?

Well, if there was one person to ask about the native wildlife, Arthur knew who it was.

\----

It wasn’t until after dinner and the kids had been scooted off to their bunks that Arthur had a chance to approach Merlin. Technically he could have sat at Merlin’s table for the evening meal, but Arthur had a weird niggle at the back of his throat at the idea of inviting himself beside a guy he hardly knew.

A week had passed since that first tumble, and just as Arthur’s bruises still ached and blotched his skin, the memory of blue eyes and a steady voice refused to fade.

It was actually kind of annoying– and probably another reason why Arthur had kept his distance from Merlin all this time. He felt tight in his chest when he saw Merlin, and it wasn’t something he was interested in pursuing. Something makes you uncomfortable? You walk away. Simple as that.

And fuck– he was putting too much thought into this. Whatever, it wasn’t like Arthur was nervous or anything. They had interacted a grand total of once, and there was no other connotation to be slapped on to the situation.

With a scowl screwed on his face, Arthur carefully made his way down the poorly-lit Hill Stairs from Hell. It was past ten and pitch-dark but for a few dingy floodlights that lined the walkway once you cleared the forest. Something buzzed past Arthur’s ear and he smacked the side of his neck with enough force to cause himself to wince.

_Calm down. He might not even be around._

Some of the counsellors went to bed at the same time as the campers, while others opted to have some breathing time down by the beach. Most sat around a fire pit and chatted, laughed, shot the shit. Some of them skinny dipped together when they thought no one else was looking.

Arthur didn’t approve of the latter for the obvious safety reasons– but he wasn’t lame, so he wouldn’t say a word.

Crossing the beach, the heels of his flip-flops kicking up cool sand, Arthur meandered toward the campfire in the distance. He could already see that Merlin wasn’t among them, even from this distance– just Gwen, Lance and Gwaine tonight. No dark, madcap hair or nerdy khaki shorts.

He was about to turn tail and leave when he spotted someone sitting on the edge of the pier, swallowed in the glimmering black waves and lit white and glowing beneath the high half moon.

Arthur grinned and set out across the beach. Away from the tangerine warmth of the fire, from the flickering flood flights, and into the silver-edged darkness.

'Merlin,' Arthur said, not wanting to scare the guy before he went clomping down the rickety, creaking boards. The entire thin dock wobbled slightly beneath his feet as he approached Merlin’s back.

Merlin didn’t flinch– just looked up and over his shoulder with slow curve of lips. His eyes reflected the pale lustre of the moon.

'Hello, Arthur. Be careful with your guitar, you don’t want to drop it in the water.'

'What? Oh.'

Arthur had forgotten he’d been holding his acoustic by the neck. He wasn’t much for singing in public, but he thought it wouldn’t hurt to play some stuff by the fire. No stupid camp songs, though. Only the good stuff. 

'Have a seat,' Merlin said, his words scraping delicately along Arthur’s skin. Merlin scooted over and Arthur hunkered down beside him. They both sat indian-style, their knees overlapping in the centre because the pier was just barely wide enough to handle two nearly-grown men sitting side by side.

Arthur briefly considered small talk, but he hated that shit, so instead he said, 'So what kinda big, creepy shit lives in this lake?'

Merlin cast him a curious glance. 'There are no animals in this lake which I would deem creepy.'

'And big animals?'

Merlin hummed under his breath, placed his palms upon his knees– and consequently brushed up against Arthur’s leg.

Arthur shivered, and not from the cold.

Merlin raised his face to the speckled stars, his voice emerging low and even, soothing.

'Every morning at dawn a great snapping turtle comes onto this beach. He must be around fifty years old– older – and large as a cocker spaniel. He is absolutely magnificent.'

' _What_? We’ve practically got a teenage mutant ninja turtle camping out in the lake and no one is worried they’re gonna get a chunk bit outta them?'

Merlin huffed a soft laugh. 'He is far too intelligent for that, Arthur. You should see his shell. Scarred by hundreds of battles– a true warrior of this lake. He’s its guardian. He’s not going to hurt anything or anyone unless it’s lunch.'

Arthur was highly doubtful that a fucking turtle had that level of cognisance, but he wasn’t going to burst Merlin’s Pocahontas bubble. Especially not when he sounded so deathly serious about it.

'What else?' Arthur pressed.

'Lake Sturgeon,' Merlin said as he subtly shifted to face Arthur a bit more than the lake. 'Three to five feet long and ten to eighty pounds.'

'Fuck.' Arthur wasn’t a ‘fraidy cat or anything– not by a long mile– but fish like that were creepy. And it sounded just about the length of what he’d seen this afternoon.

'They’re rare, but there _have_ been reported sightings. Additionally, I’ve only heard of one ever being caught here, which leads me to believe there are some very-' Merlin’s voice dropped, as if he was getting off on freaking Arthur out– the bastard. ' _Large_ beasts out there.'

'Fantastic,' Arthur said with a glare. 'What else?'

'Muskellunge, Northern Pike, some soft-shell turtles. There are several species of water-snake, but they’re long and not particularly large. Why are you asking?'

Arthur shrugged and settled his guitar properly on his knee. He plucked the opening notes to Stairway to Heaven, and the melody skipped and danced out across the lake, echoing back to them like a mermaid’s seductive song.

'I saw the shadow of something huge in the lake today. It was like five or so more feet from where we’re sitting now. Just wanted to know it wasn’t something that would like, pull a Jaws on one of the kids, y’know?'

Arthur flicked a glance to Merlin, who was watching Arthur’s fingers idly flicker over the strings. 

'I’m sure it was nothing serious,' Merlin said after an overly-long pause that had Arthur’s breath going humid and thick. 'Small fish tend to kick up dust, make noise. Despite popular belief, larger predators of the water are attracted to scuffling, sand clouds, and water skirmishes. When they hear children playing in the shallows, they’ll come and investigate, realise the child is too big to be eaten, and swim off.'

'Right. And wiggling, edible toes splashing in the water?'

Merlin looked up, his eyes bright and his teeth flashing in a genuine grin. 'Toes are sometimes a casualty of war.'

'You’re an asshole,' Arthur said, but he was battling a rumble of laughter.

'You said it first. Anyway, I’ve been coming to this lake since I was a child and I’ve only heard of one instance where someone had their toe seriously bitten– and they managed to keep it.'

'You’ve been coming here that long?'

Merlin nodded. 'Home away from home, I suppose. Or perhaps my favourite home.'

Arthur thought of the home he was going back to and found that he could kind of relate to whatever Merlin was implying.

They were silent after that. Arthur strumming Stairway to Heaven with the gentleness of a love song as they peered up at the pinpricks of light scattered above their heads. From across the lake a dog barked, and behind them in the distance Gwen's laugh and Lance's groan of embarrassment rung out. The slosh and sway of black water subtly tilted the pier back and forth, as if it were breathing with them.

The air was undoubtedly chilled, and over time Arthur’s arm came to press against Merlin’s warm side. When the final notes of the song drifted and swirled over the lake to be heard by whoever was living in the homes on the far far end, Merlin sighed.

'Arthur–'

_BA-BOOM_

'What the hell!' Arthur scrambled to his feet and backed into Merlin's arms as the entire pier shuddered beneath their feet. Merlin clamped on to Arthur’s forearm for balance, lest the impact of something massive beneath them overturn him into the water.

Neither of them had to say a word of agreement as they both took off down the pier and squealed to a halt once they’d reached the blessed sand. They turned, Arthur’s fingers now wrapped firmly around Merlin’s wrist as they gawked out at the inky waves that splashed around the dock.

They waited– and waited– and nothing. The water calmed, the air was still, and Arthur’s heart had crawled into his throat.

'What _was_ that, Merlin? A fucking sturgeon?'

'I-' Merlin didn’t jerk from Arthur’s hold, but he cocked his head and began to walk to the softly lapping shore.

Arthur jerked him roughly back and then released him with a glower. 'Idiot. You don’t have to be a lifeguard to know that you don’t actually walk _towards_ aggressive shit in the water.

Merlin frowned up at him, his brow creasing in a totally not-adorable way. 'It must have been a catfish or turtle who hadn’t seen the bars of the pier.'

'And a catfish could make the entire _dock_ rock?'

'I don’t know.'

'You don’t know. Oh _good_. Well if you don’t know then fuck if anyone else would.' Arthur threw his hands up in the air, his entire guitar swinging up as he nearly hit himself in the head with it. 'Whatever that thing is– it’s huge, Merlin. And it’s either blind like you said– or it’s mean.'

'Animals are not mean, Arthur.'

Arthur stared at Merlin. Blinked. Merlin stared back. Didn’t blink.

Arthur sighed. 'Well, whatever it was, it was creepy. Don’t go out to the piers late at night, alright? I don’t want to be fishing you outta the lake in the morning.'

'What a charming way to say you care.' Merlin almost looked like he was smiling– but a distant worry remained in his eyes, as if he were somewhere else, thinking about something else.

Arthur snorted. 'Whatever. Just doing my job.' He turned and bumped Merlin’s shoulder with his own. 'I’ll walk you back. Make sure you don’t get eaten by a bear on the way.”

They began walking together; side by side, too close. 

'It’s unlikely a bear would eat me, but I have seen cougar in the area. With cubs. They’ll have grown up now.'

'You’re a proper ray of sunshine, aren’t you?'

Merlin’s laugh was subtle, faint. 'I could say the same about you.'

'Yeah, well I’m amazing, so.'

Merlin made a rude noise– and jangled nerves or not, Arthur had to laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this photoset is this fic's aesthetic- https://tastefullyoffensive.tumblr.com/post/146226279698/theinternetnamesanimals


End file.
